Current satellite deployers, such as a Poly Picosatellite Orbital Deployer (P-POD), use four corner rails to constrain a satellite prior to ejection. However, such satellite deployers fail to provide a tight preloaded satellite constraint mechanism, causing the satellite to rattle and move during launch. This may cause damage to the satellite.
There has been a push to provide a 6-unit CubeSat deployer, which is approximately double the size of a standard 3-unit deployer, referred to as a P-POD, for example. However, some of the current 6-unit deployer designs use the same four corner rail system to constrain the satellite as the P-POD, causing the satellite to rattle under the launch dynamic loading environment. Other 6-unit deployers use a clamping technique along the edges of the satellite. Such a clamping technique relies on friction, which can be difficult to control and predict, to constrain the satellite. However, when loads are high in the non-clamp direction, friction can be overcome and allow the satellite to move or rattle. Accordingly, a system and apparatus for deploying a satellite without the use of friction and four rails may be beneficial.